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78 Weeks with the Tarot of Marseilles
Major Tom Schick
Major Tom’s Tarot of Marseilles was born of an initiative
proposed by Jean-Michel David on the Aeclectic Tarot Forums
(www.tarotforum.net). In
December 2003, Jean-Michel had noticed that from the Solstice,
that is, the 21st of December 2003, there were precisely
78 weeks until the start of the Melbourne International
Tarot Conference on the 1st of July 2005. He proposed
that Aeclectic Forum members might enjoy undertaking the
study of one tarot card per week starting on the Solstice
and finishing the week leading up to the Conference.
Major Tom's Tarot of Marseilles
I had developed an interest in the Tarot of Marseilles
and thought that Jean-Michel’s idea of 78 weeks of
study would be an excellent way to learn about the deck.
It was my idea to deepen my study by creating my own version
of the Tarot of Marseilles – one card per week for
the 78 weeks of study.
The Tarot of Marseilles is a centuries old tradition still
widely in use in Europe, yet relatively unknown in the
English speaking world. My thought was that if the characters
in the deck were dressed in modern clothing and the French
titles on the cards were accurately translated into English
that the Tarot of Marseilles would be more readily assessable
to an English speaking audience than previously. Thus,
it became my self-appointed task to decide what each of
the characters from the Tarot of Marseilles would wear
in the modern world and to study the meanings of the card
titles in French in order to translate them into English.
Major Tom's Tarot of Marseilles is the result.
I wanted my version to be true to the tradition, so my
study included as many versions of the Tarot of Marseilles
as I could lay my hands on or find on line. I used the
US Games/Carti Mundi Tarot of Marseilles, The Heron Conver
Le Tarot de Marseille, The Dusserre Dodal Le Tarot de Marseille,
Kris Hadar’s Le Veritable Tarot de Marseille, and
the Fournier Le Tarot de Marseille. On line, I consulted
the Camoin/Jodorowski Le Tarot de Marseille, The Payen
held by the Cary-Yale Library, and Jean-Claude Flornoy’s
restorations of the Noblet and Dodal. It was through comparing
and contrasting all these different versions that I made
my decisions regarding the details to include in my own
version of each of the cards.
Traditionally, the Tarot of Marseilles was printed from
woodblock and then brightly coloured using a brush and
stencils. I wanted my own version to retain the same woodblock
print ‘feel’ and yet include elements to make
thoroughly modern. Each week, I would line all the version
of a card up between my keyboard and monitor and have the
on-line images on the monitor. From these examples I would
then draw each card in pencil on an A4 sheet of paper.
I then went over the pencil with a black roller ball pen.
The resulting drawings were then scanned into my computer
where I coloured them using PhotoShop. For me, the resulting
cards manage to retain that woodcut feel while the blended
backgrounds show they are modern.
I found the whole experience of creating this deck week
by week for 78 weeks both highly enjoyable and enlightening.
I would recommend anyone wishing to further their knowledge
and understanding of tarot undertake creating their own
deck. If I can do it, I am practically positive anyone
else can too.
Perhaps the most gratifying part of this experience for
me was while attending the Melbourne International Tarot
Conference to present sessions on Creating your own tarot
deck, the sponsors, The Association for Tarot Studies,
chose to publish Major Tom’s Tarot of Marseilles
as a limited edition of 50 to commemorate the Conference.
pdf edition:
> pdf
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